contraceptive and sedative.^[6] It is considered a major component in Ayurvedic and Unani medicine and is particularly prescribed for skin diseases.^[7] Neem oil is also used for healthy hair, to improve liver function, detoxify the blood, and balance blood sugar levels.^[8] Neem leaves have also been used to treat skin diseases like eczema, psoriasis, etc.^[4]
Then there is Tamarind.
Throughout Southeast Asia, fruit of the tamarind is used as a poultice applied to foreheads of fever sufferers.^[4] Based on human study, tamarind intake may delay the progression of skeletal fluorosis by enhancing excretion of fluoride. However, additional research is needed to confirm these results.^[12]

     When the hull was completely prepared and dry, the crew would start taping and painting with anti-fouling paint that was so toxic that nothing grew on the hull for the entire sailing season.            Many a worker came down with lead mercury poisoning sickness.  A few developed cancer over time that was traced back to the carcinogenic properties of bottom paint.  If you sign on for this type of work you will be working in a very toxic environment. This is why seamen drink. To fiush outt these heavy metals. Nowadays, the smart boater simply mixes a load of cheap antibiotics into the bottom paint which prevents biological growth even longer. Tetracycline is the cheapest.  .Bottom paint has killed many a seaman.

         That's what happened to Alan. The doctors cut him open from sternum to scrotum to root out the big C. He sold Almageist to me for 4 K. That was the going price for this Picaroon..Alan sailed her from Mexico. It was a mercy buyout though  She was Gaff rigged and salty enough for touring the San Juans. She needed a haulout and a refit. I was working for Mike at Deer Harbor doing plumbing and the occasional delivery. It was the perfect place to refit her after work. So over the winter I made the long trip to Deer Harbor from Olga to work on my boat. She needed a re corking with oakum. 

        I got an old Seagull outboard from Steve that he restored. You can't kill these things. These motors are that tough. That is, unless you get the mix of oil and gas wrong. Seagulls were invented for the Normandy invasion from England. They were easy to fix and had a huge multi-finned prop.     

       This was a beautiful little wooden yacht and a fun project for the winter. The boat yard splashed Almagest after painting her hull a brilliant white and green.  Traditional Irish colors were chosen for this antique built of Alaskan yellow cedar.              I set off for the run to the Ditch. I cleared Deer Harbor motoring out when suddenly the engine seized.  My friend told me the wrong amount of oil to gasoline mix for the Seagull. Never trust anyone to tell you what they remember because you are trusting a stoners' memory. What a predicament. 

      The little ship had oars and oarlocks but it was a long passage to be making by rowing. There was no wind to be had. No rescue to be had. This nice adventure turned into a roman slave ship movie. Rowing for a couple of hours each session and playing the tides as best I could I finally made it after three days of agony.  At that point, I decided to sell this ship refitted nicely for someone else's dream. I sold her to restaurateurs in Seattle for 3K which meant I lost again in the transaction. However, I was free to flee Orcas which I did posthaste.
      I gave away the non-running VW van for $50 to a young couple who were just starting out. The rest of my scene went to Pat and Dorothy who are long time friends from the Love family. This included a radial saw and tools not to mention the geodesic dome built on a platform I had constructed.. In short, I liquidated my business. All this happened because of a vision I had of the Vishnu expansion one morning in Spring.  It is hard to explain.    Mystical Krsna and his entourage travel in a group that includes Garuda and his favorite elephants along with Veena playing musicians all dressed in glorious outfits throughout the universe. You can call him to you by chanting the names of the Lord sincerely. 

       This is how I heard it. Sometimes, this entourage is called the Vishu Expansion. Whatever it was it was beautiful and calming enough for the deer to be grazing close by and the rabbits showing themselves with no fear through a light morning mist. One never knows what one will get when chant the Maha Mantra.

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna
Krsna Krsna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

108 times completes one round or one bead. There are 32 beads on the Japa Mala. It's a young mans game.
     I drove my little Chevy Vega to the farm where it died and evil death. Dutidar Maharaj was the beneficiary of my car since I had no money to fix the thing.  I told him that the 4 stroke engine could be developed into a saw mill. That was his passion.  The saw mill would give the ranch the lumber it needed to have if any development was going to happen.

      It indicated he was not a God but a mortal for no God would take back something that had already been given (stolen). A crushed skull was all he got for the troubles as he tried to get in the tender back to his ship. The crew had to leave him bleeding and dying. This was such an untimely death for such a great navigator. The Hawaiians went berserk. This is the briefest description of his demise.
     .He opened the way for Europeans to spread disease.  Unhealthy eating creates early death among the Polynesians even today. The pig and goat were brought to the early Polynesians by the Captains. Meeting the Polynesians is called the Fatal Impact by these 17th century explorers. The title is an excellent book on European exploration of the Pacific. Cook was not the only one to spread diseases. The Portuguese, Spanish and French all share in this debacle and debasement of the beautiful world of the South Pacific.  This is the way it was.   Let's move on but never forget.     

       In Tonga they told me of the tree he tied his tender boat to was cut down. This great tree has been eradicated by modern day Tongans who recognized how the fatal impact effected their way of life.  Yet it still sprouts shoots. This has happened to most if not all indigenous people around the world.  It's called colonization. The Spanish and Portuguese, the Dutch and Germans all had colonies. The English were the most devastating to the Pacific.
     On Captain Cook Memorial Day, I was standing at the exact spot of his death commemorated by a plaque which is awash in the tidal flow. There were tourists offshore also memorializing the site of Captain Cook's death. Wreaths and Leis were thrown in the water by this tour ship. As he stood there one of the wreaths floated to the plaque and draped itself over the commemorative plate of bronze.
     There was a Maranatha group of Christians that ran a hostel-hotel kind of housing affair on the way to the health food store.  It costs money to stay. The Rainbows would gather for short a duration before moving on to wilderness locations.   Azul just happened to be one of those Rainbows who found himself in the area. He was on his honeymoon with his beautiful wife. They  came to Hawaii to live in paradise. 

        He held nightly sessions over the fire pit. His allure was the garlic toast cheese wammys that made you drool and the Tahitian blond coffee he roasted over the coals. These wammys were created by rubbing garlic cloves on toast drizzled with olive oil then mozzarella cheese. The smell of the open fire and the garlic made me think of home.  My hand was still not healing. The sisters of the Rainbow told me I could find a doctor.. I did but all I got was a cast for 6 months. The break never healed. I was in pain from the time I woke up until going to sleep.
     We were all living together near the Monument.  Jimmy and I became somewhat associated since we both had an intense interest in catching a ship to the South Pacific. The thought was a yacht would visit the monument. We would then swim out to make friends and hopefully find a spot on the crew roster. In the interim, we continued to walk every day to the health food store (O Hana O a Keina) for supplies.

        This store is located along the circle island highwa some five miles away. After a while you become jaded and sunburned to the point you just need shade and shelter. There were coffee shacks in the area. These shacks have the roof on wheels so that during the sunny, hot days the roof can be rolled back so that the sun dries the coffee beans in a protected area. The red outer coating is then removed leaving the two condyles which are green to be further dried and elegantly roasted. Coffee is labor intensive. Tahitian blond coffee is the absolute best coffee in the world. 
       We moved to this seasonal use shack we called the shack in the back. This coffee shack was perfect for hanging our hammocks. We just started living there. These places are not abandoned.  They are regularly visited by the owners who simply show up. After these visits we set up camp. All is well. German Barbra joined us in naked abandonment to our surprise. You shun your clothes as soon as it seems safe just to even out your tan lines. Our sport was watching the Wolf Spiders and Hawaiian Wasps battle for supremacy. It was a sixty forty wager on the outcome. The shack was our temporary home.

        One day, Barbra was at the lava outcropping watching the squalls offshore. The rainbows appear. She recorded each and every rainbow in a letter to her mum in Germany complete with raindrops smearing the ink. That same year of 1976 the planet alignment was taking place. Just at sunset, one could see the curves of the planets as they began to complete this alignment. This was amazing to witness.
      On the day I landed at Hilo airport, I had to hitch to the other side of the island.  This was no easy task. I wound up at an intersection with my thumb hanging in the breeze trying to look good despite my unwavering devotion to long hair. On the other side of the roadway was a sedan that was signaling a left turn.  As he made the turn a gun barrel protruded out of the rear window held by some teenaged hapa Hawaiian of Japanese ancestry.  He was centering on my chest.  There was not much I could do in this situation but smile. Luck was with me that day.  They drove on.  One of the Hawaiian favorite phrases was "peace on ya." You just have to laugh at the way it sounds..Piss on you in that friendly South Pacific twang.
     It was the year of Halley's comet returning to our Solar System. Mark Twain was born and died according to this phenomena. The interest in this event was heightened by the news we were going to the observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea to see this wonder through the telescope.. The New Krsnaloka farm outside of Hilo organized the trip for its visiting seafarers.  As you might imagine many others had the same idea. The line was long but we persisted until early in the morning.  We had the chance to peer at this heavenly wonder through the powerful Mauna Kea telescope. It was a jaw dropping moment lasting only a few seconds. 

      We were given the job of building cabins around this vast farm. One night, I decided to sleep outside under one of the cabins. It was a full moon night. A squall blew blew up leaving a astounding moon rainbow in its wake. This is a white rainbow with faint colors.  That night, I had very powerful, spiritual dreams that I remember to this day.
     The Kealakekua Bay is beautiful and  protected. It has the best scenic diving in the world. The deep blue hole in the center is astounding. It does not have a bottom. There is a bottom but that spoils the story. Such color, such life in many shades of blue that you can imagine. Every imaginable reef fish is there. The wrasses, clown fish, the little black aquarium fish as well as the black and white tipped reef shark can be seen in these waters.

     We jumped off the lava and try to spear some dinner. There was one tiny fish black aquarium type fish that was playing with me by turning broadside to the tip of my spear.  I simply could not spear a fish after having such an awareness with the little one.  I resigned myself to eating dried fruit and nuts.  I was getting very fit.
   I boarded the "Mistress" which is the former yacht of FDR. It was bought by a consortium of Mafia types as a getaway for Mafia dons. I am not joking about this! We volunteered to clean the brass with brasso and elbow grease. It was a day on the water on a beautiful ship in Hawaii. What could be better?

      To give you an idea of the crew, the skipper was overweight with a tiny head. He was driving a suburban with no windshield as he went about provisioning the ship. The cook was a long haired Frenchman dressed in an all white yoga outfit.  He was the healthiest of the lot and not given to the raucous life of the surly seaman.  The cook is the shopper, the purser, the doctor and consular.           On the Big Isle there are a few health food stores that cater to the alternative healthy few who can afford to eat sensibly.  During the Time of the Broken Hand I was able to get food stamps which gave me a good diet for my time in Hawaii.       I was placed in a cast, sometimes a fiberglass waterproof number all colorfully green or purple. The small bone never healed. I now had eight bones instead of seven in my right wrist. It hurt all the time.
      A three masted schooner came in for anchorage at the little Napa'po Bay next to Kealakekua Bay. Immediately upon arrival and letting go the ground tackle the crew began overhauling the ship which was punishment for causing an insurrection and near mutiny. No one was spared. It was many days with the same scene of the crew being berated by the bosun's mate. The guy with the whip is the master. 

      She is a beautiful ship. A vessel built as a training platform for the Argentine Navy. We decided to swim out to her some 3,000 yards offshore to get a closer look as is the tradition in Hawaii. Swimming in saltwater is effortless simply because you are buoyant from the salt content. Her sails were taken down and washed for stains, patched and reconditioned all in a few days by this taskmaster. Punishment at sea is a harsh thing.
       Napa'po has the best waves for body surfing in the area. The waves break on the rocky shore. Behind the beach you can see the old coconut shells from the days of copra harvesting. The ships would sail in to collect copra which is the dried nut meat. It would then be turned it into soap and oils for various uses in those 18th century days. I surfed close to the rocks. When I turned out of the wave I found myself standing on the boulders. Remarkable were those days  mastering the ocean.
       The long walk down the road to Napa'po is well worth it. You pass the old red roofed church in disrepair.  The plumeria groves fill the air with the sweet smell of this flower that has been enchanting visitors to this location for a good century. This road runs through a macadamia grove at the start from the circle island road.              These impossibly hard nuts are a real treat for the walker. You must remember that these groves are sprayed with deadly poison to stop the mongoose from eating them. The mongoose is everywhere. These escapees were brought to Hawaii to control the ships rats that initially escaped from visiting ships. The mongoose certainly ridded the island of the rat but took over. This animal proliferated rapidly and are now the pest of the land.
      While at the University of Hawaii someone gave me a small parrot in a cage built for canaries. This bird was impossible to control. He learned how to open the door to the cage. I tried tying the door shut with a bread tie. He simply waited for the right moment while I was cleaning the cage to pull off the escape of the century. He used to come back to the cage to eat opening the door but never staying for long. When a storm sweeps through the islands these birds are often swept to sea. Such is the life of the newcomers to these islands.  You either make it or you don't.
      Coconuts are the best way to rehydrate in the Tropics. No, not the ones in  the supermarket. Those will only kill you because the milk has turned to saturated fat. Green coconuts are absolute best for remineralizing and getting over a hangover. It is profoundly sobering of all the things, coconuts including the tree itself are good for.  

    In the South Pacific they easily saw the coconut logs into beams and rafters that are fairly strong and resistant to boring insects. The leaves are woven into roofs, walls and of course, baskets and hats. Betcha never saw a purse made of leaves. The stem of the leaf when dried and bundled together make a broom called Sou Sou. These sticks are barbecue skewers or fish stringer or sewing needle. Just about anything you can think of can be made of coconut.  When a child is born the father plants a coconut to commemorate the occasion. As the child grows so does the tree being a record of the life for all to see. When the old man dies his tree is sometimes cut down to signify his departure.

      The tree itself has the lifespan of a human being. New uses are found every year. Coconut shell carbon is the purest and has many applications in medicine.  If you study this process you need a retort oven which is self feeding and recycles the heat. The carbon is in high demand around the world.  If you want to get rich quickly start investing in coconut shells and corner the market in carbon filters.

The papaya is another tropical plant that goes way, way back to before the dinosaurs. This plant has been feeding man since the very beginning. We all should bow down and worship this plant. Just kidding but it does have many uses. This is the first solid food a baby tastes in the South Pacific. It has the most Vitamin A and D as well as C of any plant going. Digestive problems are easily treated with papaya. It has the most enzymes of almost any plant. It is truly a miracle. I used to go to the papaya plantations to look for the next penicillin in the molds that grew on the rotting piles of fruit while I was at the University. No telling if anything ever came of my findings. Lost in the annals of time. It was one of my original thoughts.

I worked for Lee Masaris while in Capt. Cook on his little farm doing odd jobs with him. This ranged from jack hammering blue lava in a homeowners back yard, to milking the goats, to cast net fishing in the surf . We also accepted work washing windows in Kilauea. We often would go down to the Monument and spearfish far out in the ocean. Lee shot a fish one morning in about 60 feet of water. I watched him as he grabbed the spear with the fish trailing. Suddenly, a moray eel darted out from his lair and grabbed the fish. The opportunist eel scared Lee as the spear settled on the bottom.  Lee came up for air but was so shaken he could not compose himself enough to retrieve the spear. At that moment I doubled up on breaths and made the long swim through sixty feet of gorgeous Pacific and grabbed the spear. I turned and planted my feet for a huge push off the bottom. The pressure in my ears finally normalized even though I did the depressurization on the start down. It's like a squeaking sound as the air passes through your Eustachian tube to your throat from your sinuses.

Lee gave me a yurt site to live in. The open air wonder that it was. The sloping roof was actually a water catchment system for the farm. I lived in the open, hearing and seeing life in its fullest passing by. One night I was awakened by the roosters crowing and the dogs barking as a few seconds later a mighty earthquake rumbled beneath me. There is a huge cauldron that makes up the Mauna Loa volcano. Sometimes, the roof of this cauldron caves in with millions of tons of rock falling back into the fiery furnace. Being awakened like this fully extended into the astral plane is so startling. I got up to see if anyone else was stirring.   Not a soul was moving about so back to sleep to slumber in paradise. On one occasion someone left a joint on my nightstand close to my hammock.  I never forgot that kindness and smoked it enjoyably.  I had a forest service canteen from my Northern California days that I would drum on to pass the time.  Someone must have heard me and thought a reefer might make the drumming better. Was that bad?

       They are called Street Sharks if you really want to know about them.  If they spot you they will make a mental note.  This is an information gathering session of just observing whether you travel alone or have friends who watch out for you. Then the stalking begins in earnest the next time they see you. You are hardly are aware of eyes upon you. If you are a dummy, you can be maneuvered into a corner and mugged.  Watch your time, place and circumstance. Don't carry your whole life on your back. Travel only in broad daylight and with others.. Always have a plan of escape.  The Reaper is waiting for you to lower your guard. MY plan is to sprint to the nearest cop.  Most muggers are overweight and stupid.
        This is paradise if you long for the ocean and sea breeze, the swaying palms and the Plumeria scents in the air. This paradise is expensive and not for the poor.   It is a job to be on vacation.  It can be hard work with little reward. You wind up complaining to yourself.   Keep up the smile as you lose and lose more and more.
      Life is not meant for winning.  Life is meant to simply survive as long as you can like the old Chinese woman in Mitchner's Hawaii you live to survive.   She sat on her bed every night looking for signs of leprosy.  Only after a thorough examination did she allow herself sleep.  She carried on like that until the day she died.
      The only cure for leprosy is isolation which is no cure at all. This was done on Molokai. We actually sailed there during our transit to the Big Isle. The old coconut plantations have been abandoned for some time now. Slowly nature is erasing mans' intrusion. The surf is still formidable. There is only a few moorings. Visitors are not welcomed.
     We arrived at dusk. The surf was throwing up huge combers. We had to cross the reef to find a mooring buoy for the night.  It is tricky in the failing light.   Somehow or other we made the right choices and arrived safely. We tied up to a mooring can and settled in for the night with the sea breezes wafting us to sleep. We awoke and surveyed the situation after diving into the limpid, clear waters. 

    Swimming in a school is best. We knew not what lurked below us.  Our breakfast awaited us on shore. All the green coconuts one could eat was ours for the gathering.  Denny and Francois left us to follow the valley filled with rainbows and possibly fresh water. They did not return until dusk and filled us with tales of wild passion fruit and papaya.  We were seen by the leper colony but was not extended an invitation to visit since we had arrived unannounced. 

    Watching Sheila gather lunch at the delicatessen was truly an educational show in itself. Traveling through Big Sur with her brought a new awareness and a love for the State flower which is the purple Iris. I admired her frequently that Spring. Every moment with Sheila was special. The warmth of her hugs in the cold sea breeze were truly comforting. If only I could have married her.  Alas, that was too much to consider.  Just being friends with such a lady was as much to bear who was too young to understand that this was something good and positive I should hold on to.
    Nothing lasts forever. Marrying her was fraught with danger. I was still fragile and hurting from his earlier experiences with rejection by women. I had gotten used to being a castoff and was expecting the same since she was already a divorcee'. Was not Bobby Kennedy a friend of her family who had taken supper with them hours before he was shot at that hotel?   Danger lurks at every step on the Path. All I could see were the death spirals taking place around me. My hair was getting longer and was taking me through the winds of change.   Sure enough, there came the moment when nothing felt right anymore. I flew home in shame.  I wrote letters and made phone calls until Mark told him the news. She went to Seattle to marry a lawyer and have children. Exemplary children, I am sure.  Those great creaking doors of my heart had slammed shut never to open again.  At least not in the same way.

   Mexico is the land of contradictions. Looking at all the new SUVs and Cadillacs you would think this border town is thriving.   I realize just how many benefit from the smuggling of narcotics to the US.   Many of these vehicles are bought by the cartels as some sort of payoff for keeping quiet about the movement of narcotics northward.  Everyone knows about this. Few talk.
         One year, I decided to drive down the entire length of the Baja Peninsula.  I started out one morning just before dawn, trying to accomplish as much as I could before the heat of the day set in.  I was looking at the slate grey rocks when I saw movement. It was a rare moment when you see something unique. This animal was big and the exact color of the rocks that surrounded him. He had that long droopy mustache of a lynx. This was a Baja Lynx which is considerably bigger than the northern lynx of Canada. He loped along easily. I slowed down as much as I could so as not to startle him. He passed along the rocks and across the road as easy as you please.  He got to a little rise and glanced back. When he saw me looking he turned and flipped his tail at me in a show of defiance and the freedom of the wilderness we were both in.   His departure was in one great leap back into the shadows. Sombra a Sombra
   Tijuana has many buses for cheap rides . I was riding a green converted school bus driven by a very happy overweight Mexican.  He pulled up to a street taco stand and picked up his order of two burritos and a large coffee. H started noshing on the burrito and driving one handed. He had to make a gradual turn.  There was a taxi making a run for the exit beside him.  The collision was a long scraping sound right below my window.  He slammed on the brakes throwing me into the rail right on my larynx again and scraping my leg against some exposed wire and nearly breaking my clavicle. He immediately returned my 10 pesos and gestured to another bus. All I could say was 'lo siento' as I ran to make the other bus.  Then I noticed the blood on my leg. For a scratch to bleed it must be deep enough to damage a vessel.  There I stood waiting for my job interview bleeding like a stuck pig trying to make sense of the absurdity of this scene.  There is danger at every step on the path.
        I decided to simply apply like any good Mexican and look for a job in the USA. I went to Denny's and managed an application. He said he'd call me if a dishwasher job opened up. I really doubted his sincerity. He only seems to hire brown people. A white guy in the kitchen will be an adjustment for everyone. Denny's serves the local police, so I'd fit right in. Still waiting...
      What a strange year for me here in TJ.  The little black box continues to be the greatest drain on my financial well being.  I got involved with the World Bank online.  Don't ever do that. They will take all your money and give you nothing in return similar to other internet scams only this is much more professional with the nicest people stealing your money. I ask you how much does it cost to open an online account?  Surely not 25 K right? This is how much they want for this kind of  'banking service'.  I am exhausted with these scams.
       Continuing on with Svetlana who is a friendly, skilled banker at the World Bank in Minsk.  She has been making plans to come see me.  This is the fifth time she has let me down.  I wonder if this will ever work out.  However, the bank wants her to complete this account acquisition then moving the account to the USA in Washington D.C. so it might just work out fine. So many criminals online trying to get me to reveal my account #.  I always tell them a wrong number. LOL
       I've asked for my money back but my pleas fall on deaf ears.  I've contacted many police departments about this scam and nobody seems to care. Interpol is my last hope.  For once I'd love to work with a bank that was not full of criminals.  I managed to get the police interested in the World Bank and clean up the trouble but it grows a new head like the hydra of old.. Big money attracts big criminals...